Quote of the Week"It's a fundamental, biological urge to be worried because we're looking at the bear that's coming up behind us to eat us. And if we're not worried about Y2K or nuclear holocaust then we're worried about global warming. We are the only people in the history of humanity who have ever feared warm times." - Australia's Professor Ian Plimer hits the speaking circuit in London.
Reflections on a tough year
RESPONDENTS who provided comments and feedback for this week’s cover story gave us (of course) optimism, anger, tears (we think on a few occasions), plenty of 20-20 wisdom and best of all, colour. There were very clear signs that more than a few cold ales and perhaps a bit of the stronger stuff will be consumed over the festive season as seasoned industry veterans ponder what 2009 has in store.
Not such a long shot
WHILE much of the rest of the mining sector bunkers down with the sole aim of survival in a tough investment environment, the Mark Creasy-backed Legend Mining has put its money where its mouth is and showed refreshing initiative for a junior.
Looking for a fast track forward
THE cheeky cover image of Westgold Resources’ annual general meeting presentation to shareholders late last month couldn’t be clearer in illustrating the expectations the company has for its Rover project in the Northern Territory. The image? Gold bars!
Advertisement
Market sharks Russian for cover
SET against a scene of economic Armageddon, AIM-listed Peter Hambro Mining has mustered almost $US50 million in debt to pursue its Russian gold expansion, which in turn has sent market sharks that shorted the stock scrambling for their cheque books.
Early promise in Ghana
JULIE West’s allure continues to grow for owner Castle Minerals with the explorer intending to examine the Ghana gold prospect’s deeper potential next month with step out drilling ahead of a resource estimate.
Mundo Minerals has plenty of projects, not enough cash
AT Mundo Mineral’s recent AGM, CEO John Langford expressed the company’s need to conserve the last of its remaining cash. With just $A1.3 million left, there is understandably an impetus on ensuring the Engenho project in Brazil delivers positive cash flow.
Advertisement
Rio R&D still moving forward
RIO TINTO’s head of innovation John McGagh has reaffirmed the big miner’s support for key components of its mining technology investment program amid fears in the wider mining community the work could be canned due to Rio’s major focus on reducing expenditure.
‘Interesting times’ come with the Territory
THE ubiquitous phrase “interesting times” seems to mean different things to different people in the current economic environment, but “uncertain future” could be substituted in many cases. That would appear to be the market’s reading on Northern Territory iron ore producer Territory Resources.
Green light for uranium
FLEXIBLE rules on what constitutes a major mineral discovery, and when it was actually made, often leave more than one person claiming the glory. Greenland Minerals and Energy believes changing circumstances make its claim to have unveiled a world-class multi-element resource in “one of the last frontiers for mineral deposit discovery in a politically stable, mining friendly jurisdiction” a valid one.
Sweeteners might appeal to hungry giant
DEC 8: BHP Billiton has the firepower and a largely reduced field of competitors to contend with, but does it have the gumption, corporate skill and nimbleness to pick up the two best new emerging base metal projects in Australia, and arguably the world?
Newcrest redux in full swing
DEC 8: NEWCREST Mining evidently got its message across to analysts very well at last week’s two day briefing judging by the recent strong market interest in the stock.
Crude estimates point to steep falls
DEC 8: CRUDE historical ratios that compare the cost of the inputs to the price of steel indicate what iron ore and coal producers would already know. Namely, revenue is set to slump. However, newswire reports that suggest a savage 82% cut in iron ore contract prices is in the wind are “misinformed, overdone and do not accurately reflect underlying supply/demand fundamentals”.
Uranium near the bottom
DEC 8: URANIUM’S 18-month price decline looks like it might be over, according to the team at Merrill Lynch, despite the poor global economic outlook.
AUSTRALIA'S MTS LEADERS
Not just about staying alive
SEDGMAN chairman Russell Kempnich has been around the Australian coal industry since 1977, so he’d be familiar with the chart-topping Bee Gees song of that year, Staying Alive. He, and fans of the song, also have reason to remember 1983 when Staying Alive became a signature tune for dark times indeed.
AUSTRALIA'S MTS LEADERS
Top 50 survey 2008
HIGHGRADE’S inaugural list of Australia’s Top 50 mining technology and service providers is headed by mine explosives giant Orica and is dominated by ASX-listed companies, but also features more than a dozen privately owned firms, led by mining contractor Barminco.
VIEW FROM THE WEST END
And so it begins
DEC 22: IT IS an annoying reality that the tops and bottoms of markets are only ever accurately identified with the benefit of hindsight. And so as a result we always seem to sell too early into a rising market or buy too early into a falling one – or at least I always do.
AUSTRALIA'S MTS LEADERS
Engineering a bigger pipeline
AUSENCO chief executive Zimi Meka doesn’t mind conceding 2009 is going to be a tough year for “everyone in the [engineering] space”. But that doesn’t mean he’s lost his sense of humour.
FINANCE
... and a happier New Year?
A BROKER, an analyst and a fund manager walk into a bar – well, not just a bar, more accurately London’s Andaz Hotel. This isn’t the start of a joke but, surprisingly, these three wise men did manage to inject a little bit of mirth and good will into some fairly cranky Christmas premonitions at the 56th Minesite Forum last week.
TECHNOLOGY
China still providing boost for equipment supplier
MODERNISATION of China’s vast coal mining industry might be occurring at a snail’s pace, but that is fast enough to provide real growth opportunities for companies such as Australia’s Industrea, which claims to be on track for an 84% revenue hike in 2008-09.
AUSTRALIA'S MTS LEADERS
Answering mining’s SOS call
GARY Zamel must feel like the guy trying to get into the footy when the ref has blown the final whistle and everybody is trying to get out of the game park. He’s moving resolutely in the other direction because he sees that a new game is only just getting started.
CONTRACTING
Man in the ‘ivory tower’ has got it mainly right
IT MIGHT be a long way from the Sydney CBD’s Aurora Place tower to the regional offices and machine yards of Australia’s mining contractors and suppliers, but resources bull Charlie Aitken’s observations on the pain befalling those providing equipment and services to mines would seem to be agonisingly close to the mark.
VIEW FROM THE WEST END
Another one bites the dust
DEC 8: ONE of the more unusual websites about is www.about2croak.com , a fun little spot that gives the punting public the opportunity to have a wager on which famous people they think might fall off their perch over the course of the year.
